Broken Angels
by Kelsondra
Summary: A horrible accident leaves Edward emotionally broken. When Bella moves to Forks, she wants to help him though it. What she didn't know was that helping Edward get over his past was a lot more dangerous than she thought. *AU/AH*
1. Welcome To Forks

****

**A/N: Hey there! Here's a new fic, hope you like it. **

**One thing, I know Bella calls Charlie 'Charlie' in the books, but I'm doing something with her calling him 'dad', so bear with it. **

**Enjoy. **

Edit 04/05/09:

I got this chapter beta'd by the lovely Duskwatcher and dmnsgrl. Seriously girls, thank you! I also added more of the dinner scene with Billy and Jacob since it cut off so quickly.

Also, I have a little thread on the Twilighted forum for this story. Feel free to come and check it out! The link is in my profile.

_Chapter One: Welcome To Forks_

_Bella P.O.V._

It was raining.

I guess I had to get used to the fact that it rained in Forks pretty much all year. It sucked. I missed my home back in Phoenix, Arizona. It was warm, sunny, and most importantly, _dry_. There was nothing I could do now though, I was unpacked and ready to go for my senior year at Forks High School.

The windshield wipers on my 'new' truck couldn't keep up with the rain, making it hard for me to see clearly. I had gotten this truck from Charlie as a 'welcome home' present, though this wasn't really what I call _home_. I couldn't complain though, I had offered to live with my dad for the sake of my mother's new marriage. It wouldn't make sense for me to go back home after less than a week in Forks, plus it would really hurt Charlie's feelings. I hadn't spent any time with him since I was thirteen, four years ago. I could tell that he was lonely and having me back seemed to make him happier.

I managed to get a good parking spot when I pulled into the school's lot. I pulled my hood over my head and grabbed my bag. Opening the door, I winced as the cold raindrops hit my arm. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

I locked and slammed the door shut, making a run for the brick building. As soon as I made it into the office, I pulled my hood down and shook out my hair and glared at the wetness outside.

"May I help you, dear?"

A middle-aged woman from behind the desk looked at me with a kind smile. I smiled and walked up to the desk. _I'm here now, may as well make the best of it_. "Yes, I'm Isabella Swan."

"Oh, right!" She typed something into the computer and smiled at me. "Welcome to Forks, hun. I'm just printing out your schedule for you." She pushed off from her desk and wheeled herself over to a filing cabinet, opening it up and grabbing a couple sheets of paper. After closing it, she wheeled herself back to the desk. "You'll need to get each of your teachers to sign this," she told me as she handed me the papers. She reached over and grabbed a piece of paper fresh from the printer and handed it to me.

"Your first class is in the building across the lot," she said, pointing. The building she was pointing to was barely visible because of the rain. "From there your teachers can help you out."

"Thank you." She smiled at me and I put the papers into my backpack; I didn't want them to get wet. I pulled my hood over my head and ran out of the building. The rain was falling harder, and it actually hurt a tiny bit to be pelted with it as I ran. The wind had picked up too, knocking my hood down as I entered the building.

Freezing cold, I gathered my hair together and started wringing out as much water as possible. I was soaked and didn't have another jacket or anything to change into. _Mental note, bring a change of clothe_s. I thought to myself.

I went over to the bench that was off to the side and put my backpack down. Little water droplets splattered onto to wooden bench as I bent over my backpack to grab the schedule.

I looked up as I zipped my backpack and found myself staring into the most gorgeous green eyes I had ever seen. I flushed immediately and looked down. The owner of the eyes was extremely handsome, tall with tousled reddish brown hair. He wasn't alone, either. Around him were four others, each of them exceedingly beautiful, and each of them very different. There was a tiny little girl who reminded me of a pixie, a very tall blonde who looked like she could have just walked right off a runway, she was standing next to a very handsome curly haired blonde, and in the back was a very tall, _very big_, black haired man.

And they were all staring at me.

I bit my lip and looked at my schedule. My class was just down the hall and, luckily, I didn't have to pass the group of breathtaking strangers. Knowing my luck, I would probably slip and fall flat on my face if I walked by them and I didn't need that happening to me on my first day.

I hitched my backpack up onto my shoulder and began walking to my class, refusing to look at the group even though I really wanted to. As I walked into my class I heard them start talking in low voices. Talking about me, no doubt.

The class was empty, so I went to a desk near the back and put my drenched backpack on the floor beside it. My wet jeans were beginning to get uncomfortable, I could feel them rubbing annoyingly against my legs.

"Excuse me." I jumped, having been preoccupied adjusting my jeans. Embarrassed, I looked up and saw one of the females of the group I had been ogling staring at me, an amused smile on her lips. "You're new here, aren't you?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Welcome to Forks High then, I'm Alice Brandon." The girl, Alice, skipped up to me and held out her hand. I shook it, giving a hesitant smile. Alice was short, she came up to about my shoulders, yet there was something about her that made you notice her. She seemed to radiate happiness, and the way she bounced on the balls of her feet gave the impression that she was happy to introduce herself.

"I'm Bella Swan."

"Swan?" Alice cocked her head to the side. "Are you related to Charlie Swan?"

"Yeah, he's my dad." I nodded and was surprised to see Alice start laughing. "What?"

"My cousin is going to love you," she said, laughing. "Your dad is always busting him and his friends for parties and speeding."

I laughed, not sure what to say. I wondered if Charlie being my dad would put a strain on me making friends here. It wouldn't be very fun going to parties if they knew Chief Swan's daughter was going to be there. Who would want to be friends with the daughter of the cop who busts you all the time?

Alice stopped laughing and looked at me, raising her eyebrows. "Please tell me you have a spare change of clothes."

I looked down to my old hoodie and jeans, both still noticeably wet. "I don't, actually," I told her sheepishly.

Alice gasped dramatically, and at first I thought she was just joking around. When I looked up at her face though, I saw genuine horror in her expression. "Pushing aside the fact that what you're wearing is totally unacceptable, you'll get sick if you wear that!"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked, feeling a bit insulted. Fashion wasn't exactly what I was going for when I saw how much it was raining this morning, but come on. You don't openly insult what a person is wearing!

"Those jeans are so _last year_!" Alice moaned. A group of girls walked into the classroom as Alice pulled out her cell and quickly dialed a number. The girls stared at me, not bothering to hide their curiosity. They grabbed desks a couple rows in front of me and sat down, occasionally looking back at Alice and me. "Rose, do you have a spare change of clothes with you?"

I felt my jaw drop as Alice began twittering away on the phone. "Alice no, you don't have to-" I began but stopped as she raised her hand.

"No, it isn't for me, it's for a friend." I shut my mouth as she said that, feeling oddly touched. We had just met and she already considered me a friend? "Thanks, Rosie." Alice snapped the phone shut and grinned at me. "My friend Rosalie always has a spare change of clothes with her and you're about her size."

"I… thank you," I said.

"It's no problem," Alice said, waving it off. "Rose will meet us outside the class. She has first period in the same building."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. I wanted to know. No normal person would offer a change of clothes to someone they just met.

"You're going to get sick," she explained shrugging. Alice began to walk to the front of the room and motioned for me to follow. "Besides, we're going to be good friends. I can tell." She sent me a knowing grin and headed out of the class. We waited maybe a minute or two and then heard heels clicking down the hallway towards us.

"Here." A stunningly beautiful blonde walked up to Alice, holding a plastic bag. I recognized her from the group I saw earlier. She held it out for Alice to grab, then looked at me, her eyes coolly taking in my appearance.

"Thanks, Rosie," Alice said, taking the bag from her. "This is Bella Swan. Bella, Rosalie Hale."

"Thanks for letting me use your clothes," I said. I felt the need to express my gratitude. Rosalie looked like she could be a runway model in a fashion magazine or an actress.

"Yeah." She gave me another once over before turning to Alice. "I want my clothes dry cleaned when she's done with them."

I stared after Rosalie as she walked off, the sway in her hips making some male students stop and stare as she passed. Okay, it was safe to assume she didn't like me that much. I didn't know why, I hadn't done anything to her. At least, I hope I hadn't.

"Don't mind Rosie," Alice muttered, handing me the bag. "She can be a bit of a bitch at times, she doesn't take well to new people."

"It's okay."

"The bathroom is over there," she said nodding over to where a door with a stick girl on it. "I'll watch our stuff in the class."

I nodded and went into the bathroom, locking myself in the handicapped stall. Hanging the bag on the hook on the back of the door, I unzipped my hoodie and placed it on the ledge. I grabbed the t-shirt first from the bag, a low cut, spaghetti strapped, light green tank. I groaned. I didn't like wearing tank tops in school, it made me feel so… _exposed_.

It was better than my shirt though, I hated the feel of wet material. I pulled my sweater off and put on Rosalie's shirt. To my surprise, the tank top was actually a little big on me. My surprise quickly wore off, of course it would be too big. I might be female but I didn't fail to notice how …well equipped Rosalie was.

I pulled my jeans off and grabbed the pair of designer jeans that were in the bag. I couldn't help the small little grin as I buttoned up the jeans. They were loose on me, I felt a little smug. _I'm skinnier than the supermodel_. As soon as I thought that, I felt guilty for thinking it.

I sighed and reached into the bag. Inside, it held an expensive looking belt that would hold up the jeans nicely and also had a nice little jacket to go along with it.

I stuffed my clothes into the bag and hurried back to the class. Alice squealed when she saw me, clapping her hands excitedly. "That looks great on you, Bella!" she said. She took the bag from my hands and put it under her desk. "I'll get these washed for you."

"No, it's okay." I took the bag back and put it in my backpack before Alice could do anything. I hadn't gotten my locker yet, it was in the main building and this was just a side building. There was no way I was going out in this rain just to put something in my locker. I could wait until later.

The teacher walked in and put his briefcase on the desk. I sighed, reaching into my binder and pulling out the sheet of paper I needed my teachers to sign. "I'll be back," I muttered to Alice and walked up to the teacher. "Excuse me…"

He looked up and smiled at me. "Isabella Swan?"

"It's Bella, actually," I said. I held out the paper to him. "I was told you had to sign this."

He took the paper and signed it, then handed it back to me. "Since we just started this term two weeks ago, there really is nothing you have to catch up on. There's a few little question and answer assignments here and there, but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle."

I thanked him and turned to go back to my desk. The two girls who were staring at me before I left to get changed were joined by a couple more and they all just stared at me as I walked by. I saw Alice roll her eyes behind them and I grinned. "You'd think they never saw a pretty girl before," she said to me.

I felt myself blush at the comment. Me? Pretty? Well, sure, I wasn't bad looking, but I didn't really consider myself that pretty either. I was just… normal. "Yeah," I mumbled, laughing awkwardly.

Thankfully the bell rang, turning Alice's attention away from me. She opened up her binder and pulled out a neon pink pen. As the others began to file into the classroom, their eyes were drawn over to where I was sitting. I hated that about first days, people always stared at the new kid like she was some sort of creature on display.

"Alright, alright settle down," the teacher said. "It's obvious we have a new student. This is Isabella Swan and she just moved here from Phoenix, Arizona. Do you want to add anything, Isabella?"

Everyone turned to look back at me. I felt my face heat up from the unwanted attention and shifted in my desk. "Um, it's just 'Bella'."

Class started after that. It went fairly well, I guess. Occasionally someone would look back and stare at me, but other than that I wasn't really acknowledged. Alice gave me the notes the class had taken so far and said she'd photocopy the question sheets for me as well.

"So what class do you have next?" Alice asked as the bell rang.

I pulled out my time table. "I have… calculus."

Alice scrunched up her little nose. "Ew, math is gross," she said, making a disgusted noise. She took my schedule from me and looked it over. "You're in the same class as Jasper though! I'll introduce you to him once we get to the main building. It doesn't look like we have any other classes together until last period."

"Well at least we have another class together," I said, taking the paper back. "And who's Jasper?"

"Jasper's my boyfriend," Alice explained, giving a small sigh.

"Awww." I teased, nudging Alice with my elbow.

"Yeah," she grinned. "He's also Rosalie's twin brother."

I remembered Rosalie's blonde, breathtaking looks and how she acted towards me. "Is he also… like her?" I asked.

"No," Alice laughed. She whipped out her umbrella and held it out to me. I opened it and held it up as we walked out of the building. The rain had let up a bit and was now a light drizzle. "He and Rose are pretty much exact opposites. Rose is more concerned about herself while Jasper is more in tune with everyone around him."

Alice led the way into the main building, squeaking as we entered, and then ran to the same tall, blonde haired guy with curly hair I saw earlier. I knew right away that he was Jasper. He looked a lot like Rosalie, plus, he was super gorgeous. His eyes were such a unique color of light blue, and as he was grinning at Alice, I noticed a tiny little dimple on his left cheek. I began to wonder if everyone Alice associated with was that good looking.

I shook the umbrella out and closed it, keeping my head down as Alice leaned up to give Jasper a kiss. I felt embarrassed whenever a couple displayed their affection towards each other, it made me feel uncomfortable. "Jazz, this is Bella Swan. She just moved here."

Jasper looked at me for a moment before grinning and holding out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Bella," he said as I shook his hand.

"Bella is Chief Swan's daughter," Alice said, grinning.

Jasper's eyebrows shot up as he smirked. "Really now, Eddie will _love_ that."

"That's what I said." Alice laughed.

I stared between them, totally lost. Alice must have seen my confused look. "My cousin Edward is always getting caught by your dad at parties. It's kind of funny really."

"Don't worry about it," Jasper told me. "He'll think it'll be pretty funny, too."

I blinked. How did he know I was worrying that he'd have a grudge against me? "How-?"

"I told you he was more in tune with the people around him," Alice explained, linking her arm with his. "Bella's in your class next, so be nice." She leaned up on her tip-toes and pecked him on the cheek.

"I always am," Jasper replied, grinning.

Alice let go of his arm and skipped past me. "I'll see you at lunch Bella. I have stuff to do at break in another building."

"Is she always so happy?" I asked Jasper after Alice disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah, she is." Jasper chuckled. We walked into class and grabbed seats at the back. I pulled out my paper and went up to the front, getting the teacher to sign it. She went into a whole speech about me when class started, threatening others to be nice. I felt mildly uncomfortable at that part, feeling my face heat up Jasper snickered quietly to himself.

After class, Jasper told me he was going to go find Alice. I nodded and pulled out the paper that had my locker number on it from my backpack. I found my locker just down the hall at the end of a clump of lockers. I pulled out the bag of clothes from my backpack and hung it on the hook.

"Isabella?" I looked up to see a tall blonde guy leaning casually on the locker next to mine.

"It's Bella," I said automatically.

"Oh. Sorry," He said, his cheeks turning a light pink. "I'm, uh, in your calculus class. My name's Mike. Mike Newton."

"Yeah, I think I remember you," I said, giving him a small smile. I slammed my locker shut and looked around the hall. I didn't know which way it was to my next class.

"So yeah, I just figured that you might need someone to help you get around," Mike continued, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Mike, who's this?" A short brunette walked up to Mike, standing close to him. She looked at me with an appraising look and shifted closer to Mike, placing her arm on his shoulder. Crap, this girl must be his girlfriend. Another girl with blonde hair and green, almost fishy eyes walked up and placed herself beside the brunette.

"Jessica!" Mike jumped. "This is Bella Swan. She just moved here from Arizona."

"Oh." Jessica smiled at me and I could immediately tell it was forced. "Welcome, Bella."

"So what class do you have next?" Mike asked.

"Biology."

"Hey, me too!" Mike exclaimed. Jessica shot a glare at him. "I'll show you where it is, Mr. Banner will want to give you your homework right away."

Mike grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall. "So, you liking Forks?"

"It's okay," I said, looking over my shoulder. Jessica was saying something to the other girl and glaring at me. I pulled my arm away from his grip.

"The cafeteria is over there," he said, pointing to a set of double doors as we passed them. "Did you want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?"

I tried not to make a face. Mike seemed like a nice guy but he seemed a bit too clingy. "Sorry, I already made plans with some other people at lunch."

"Oh." He looked disappointed for a moment. "Well, that's okay. You can sit with us tomorrow. Mr. Banner, this here's Bella."

Mike sat on a table in the middle of the room while Mr. Banner gave me the homework I needed to do. The bell rang just as he signed the paper and people started coming into the class. I was beginning to recognize some of the faces, and even remembered Angela Weber, who was also in my calculus class.

"Bella, you can sit by Edward," Mr. Banner told me as the second bell rang.

I turned around and felt the air whoosh out of me when I saw the dazzling green eyes I had made contact with this morning. I felt my pulse start to race as I made my way to the table, placing my backpack down and taking a seat.

"Hello," I said quietly.

He just nodded at me and looked at Mr. Banner as he began the lesson. I frowned, that was quite rude. He caught me staring at him and I felt my face heat up. I turned away from him and concentrated on the lesson. Mr. Banner placed two petri dishes and a microscope in front of us, giving Edward a pointed look.

Giving a sigh, Edward pushed the petri dish towards me. "Ladies first," he said softly. I looked at him, _really_ looked at him for the first time. His stylish messy copper hair seemed more disheveled then when I saw him this morning, though it still looked good. He was pale, really pale, and there were dark circles underneath his eyes and he looked like he needed a good night's sleep. He was the best looking man I had ever seen in my life.

"Thanks," I muttered, taking the dish and placing it on the microscope slide. I looked, wrote down the answer, then slid the microscope towards him. He seemed almost lifeless as he looked into the microscope. "Are you okay?"

Edward looked up from the microscope, looking shocked. He controlled his features quickly and forced a smile. "Yeah."

"You look so tired," I stated. "Maybe you should go home after class."

"I'm fine," he snapped. I jumped, startled by his tone. In my peripheral vision I saw Mike give Edward a harsh glare.

"I'm sorry," I said, taking the microscope he pushed back to me.

We didn't talk to each other after that. The tension between us was thick afterwards, the silence making me feel uncomfortable and antsy.

The bell rang and Edward darted up from his seat, slamming the assignment on Mr. Banner's desk as he hurried out of the class. I took my time, putting my binder into my backpack and waiting for the class to clear out.

"What was going on with you and Cullen?" Mike asked.

"No idea," I replied, placing my assignment on Mr. Banner's desk. "I just said that he really looked tired."

Mike chuckled, "Wrong move, Arizona."

I sighed and bit my lip. I hope I didn't offend him too much; how was I supposed to know he would get so angry with my simple suggestion?

Alice began waving as Mike and I entered the cafeteria. I said goodbye to him and made my way over to her table. Jasper was sitting beside Alice, munching on a pizza bun while Rosalie sat on his other side, snuggled up to the big guy I had seen with Edward's group this morning, he looked even bigger up close. I stopped short when I saw Edward sitting beside the big guy, staring at his plate.

I was forced to sit between Alice and Edward, hanging my backpack on the back of my chair. "Bella," Alice said, "this is Emmett McCarty. He's Rosie's boyfriend." The big guy grinned at me, using two fingers in a mock salute. "And this is Edward Cullen, my cous-"

"We're lab partners, Alice," Edward said.

"Oh." Alice shared a look with Jasper. She turned to me and gave me a smile. "Want to come with me to get food?"

"Yeah, sure." I followed Alice to where the food was being served, and grabbed a tray.

"I'm sorry about Edward," Alice apologized, ordering some fries.

"It's okay," I told her, grabbing a plastic wrapped bowl of fruit and putting it on my tray. "I did kind of say something in bio that seemed to make him angry."

"What did you say?" Alice asked.

"Well, I told him that he looked really tired and suggested that he should go home after class." I grimaced, it did sound quite rude when I thought about it.

"Ah," she said, nodding. "Don't worry about it, Bella. Edward… he's going through a tough time right now. Any little thing will set him off."

We paid for our food and headed back to the table. I wanted to know what was going on with Edward, but it didn't seem right to ask. I just met them today, I didn't want them to think I was a snoop. "Thanks again for letting me borrow your clothes," I said to Rosalie as we sat down.

She gave a small shrug and took a bite of her salad. I felt myself liking her less and less. It was hard to believe that Jasper, who was so nice and kind, could be related to an ice queen like her.

"Ignore her," Alice whispered to me. I looked at Rosalie to see if she heard but Emmett was occupying her attention by telling her what happened to him in English. "She's just pissy that you look better in that outfit then she does."

I felt my face heat up at Alice's comment and stared down at my bowl of fruit, trying to hide my blush.

***

I managed to finish most of my history homework when I got home from school and still had time to start dinner before my dad got home. As I was grabbing the plates, I heard my dad's cruiser come to a stop in the driveway along with another vehicle. Curious, I went to the window and saw my dad helping Billy –he sold my dad my truck- into his wheelchair while Billy's son Jacob held a case of beer.

"Hey Bells," Dad greeted as he wheeled Billy into the house.

"Hey." I grinned at Billy and Jacob, "Hey you two."

"How's the truck doing, Bella?" Jacob asked, placing the beer on the counter.

"It's doing great," I said, scooping potatoes onto the plate. "Have you guys eaten yet?"

"Nope."

I served the food to everyone and sat down at the small kitchen table, ready to dig in. I hadn't realized how hungry I was.

"So," Dad said after a moment, "how was your first day of school?"

"Pretty good," I replied, "I made a couple friends."

"Who?" Jacob asked.

"Alice Brandon, Jasper Hale, Emmett…uh…" I trailed off, trying to remember his last name. Jacob snorted into his food. "What?"

"You know how to pick your friends, Bella."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, feeling a bit irritated at his answer. Billy and Dad stopped eating to stare at us.

"Nothing," Jacob said innocently. "We just don't get along."

"Don't think anything of it," Billy told me, breaking the tension between Jacob and I. "The Q.O.D. don't get along with anyone."

"The Q.O.D?" I asked as Dad groaned.

"It stands for Quileute Ocean Dogs," Billy explained. "It's the name Jacob and his friends call their little group."

"Dad," Jacob groaned.

"Group?" I grinned, smirking at Jacob. "Like in a gang?" I teased.

"I would hardly call it a gang." Billy scoffed, "Sam's got a good head on him and he keeps them in line."

"So did you meet anyone else?" Dad asked, giving a quick glance towards Billy.

"I met Mike Newton," I said slowly, "He's in a couple of my classes." Jacob rolled his eyes dramatically and I groaned, "You don't like anyone, do you?" I grinned at him to let him know I wasn't being serious.

Jacob grinned back at me, "Not true, I like you perfectly fine."

"Yeah…" I didn't know what to say to that so I just stuffed my mouth full of potatoes.

We lapsed into silence after that, the only sounds in the kitchen were the clinking of the cutlery and the heavy breathing of Billy. Once all of us were done, Jacob and I began with washing dishes while Dad and Billy went into the living room to watch the game.

"So…" Jacob said, grabbing the dish rag, "Yeah."

"Yeah…" I grabbed the rag from him and began to was some plates, "I didn't see you around the school today, you skipper."

Jacob chuckled, "I don't go to Forks High. I go to a school on the rez."

"That makes sense," I said, feeling stupid.

We finished the dishes just talking about random things, favorite colors, favorite animal, the type of things new acquaintances would usually talk about. Jacob went to go join Billy and Dad in the living room after we finished while I began to wipe down the kitchen counters. Sports never interested me, so I decided to clean up.

Eventually I had no choice but to go and join them in the living room. The game was nearly finished, and the last twenty of it felt like hours to me as I sat in the old chair Dad had placed off to the side of the couch.

Finally, the game ended (with Dad's team losing miserably) and Billy and Jacob left. Dad waved at them through the window and then turned to me, "Sorry about the extra company, Bells."

"It's alright," I said. "I enjoyed it."

Dad was quiet for a moment, staring intently at the floor. I knew something was up. "Do you think you'll be hanging out with Jacob?" he asked.

"Uh…" I stared at dad, not sure what he meant. "Do you mean as in friends?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, um, probably," I said, leaning against the counter. "Why?"

"I'm fine with you being friends with Jacob, but I don't want you hanging out with any other guys down at La Push," he said. "The Q.O.D. can be quite dangerous."

"I thought that was just the name Jake and his friends called themselves."

"Billy seems to think so," Dad said, grabbing a beer and taking a seat at the table. "He seems to turn a blind eye where Sam is involved. He's like the role model for the younger ones."

"But he's not?" I asked. I sat down at the kitchen table with him.

"He's a good kid. I hardly have any trouble with him," he began. "It's the other kids I worry about. They've gotten into trouble before and, well, I'd feel a lot safer if you didn't associate with them."

"What happened?"

Dad hesitated. "You said you met Alice Brandon today, right?" I nodded, very confused. "Did you happen to meet Edward Cullen?"

"Yeah, he's actually my lab partner for bio," I told him. "Wait a minute, I remember Alice and her boyfriend saying that you always bust him at parties. Is he one of the Q.O.D?"

Dad shook his head, "No. Edward hates the Q.O.D." He took a swing of his beer, "I actually don't mind Edward; he's going through a lot so I do tend to take it easy on him."

Now I was suspicious. Alice had the same thing to me as well at lunch. "What happened to him?"

"About a year ago, Edward was in a relationship with this girl, Tanya Denali."

"And she left him for a guy in the Q.O.D?" I guessed.

Dad shook his head, "Let me finish Bells."

"Sorry."

"So Tanya and Edward are dating, and had been for over a year. One day, Tanya was driving to Edward's house when a car hit her and ended up driving her off the road and into a ditch."

I gasped, my hands covering my mouth. "That's horrible," I said. "She didn't make it, did she?"

Dad sighed."She hasn't passed away yet, but I figure it's only a matter of time."

"What do you mean?"

"She's been in critical condition since the accident. She was pronounced brain dead the day after the accident."

"Oh my God…" No wonder Edward seemed so lifeless. "Wait, you said the accident happened a year ago. If she's brain dead, why hasn't… well, why is she still on life support?"

"Tanya's parents refuse to accept the fact that she will never wake up," Dad said, shaking his head. "They keep pressuring Dr. Cullen, who just happens to be Edward's dad, to find a way to 'fix her.' So even though it happened over a year ago, because of Mrs. Denali's constant phone calls, Edward has to relieve it almost everyday."

I sat there for a while, feeling horrible now about making that sleep comment to Edward in biology. He must be plagued with nightmares. "So what does the Q.O.D. have to do with this?"

"Tanya's ex-boyfriend is suspected to be the one who ran her off the road. Edward is dead set on that theory, and even though it does seem very likely, there's no proof."

"And he's in the Q.O.D," I said.

Dad nodded, "Yeah. The game's about to start though." I nodded as he got up and walked into the living room.

I stared at the table for a while, my mind busy thinking of everything dad told me. I felt horrible about Tanya, and guilty for knowing Edward's secret. Running a hand through my hair, I went upstairs to shower and then went to bed.


	2. Hit and Run

**A/N: Hey guys! I'd like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or added this to his/her alerts! It made me feel happy. :)**

**Here's the second chapter, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Thanks to my wonderful beta AmberStar63 for looking over this for me! **

**Don't forget to review 3**

**EDIT 04/12/09: Got this chapter edited by the lovely girls at Team Project Beta (Duskwatcher and dmnsgrl) and it's ready to go! This should be the last time I update without having both my beta's getting their hands on it. **

_Chapter Two: Hit and Run_

_Bella P.O.V._

I didn't sleep well that night. I kept tossing and turning; thinking about Edward. My heart went out to him and I wished I could do something to make him a little happier but couldn't come up with any ideas. I wasn't even supposed to know about what happened, so offering my condolences was out of the question.

I kicked off my covers and began getting dressed. It was a little after seven in the morning and I needed to start getting ready if I wanted to be at school in time. I remembered to stuff extra clothes into my backpack. I didn't want a repeat of yesterday and I was pretty sure Rosalie wouldn't have another change of clothes, and even if she did, I wasn't too sure whether she would let me wear them again.

I went through my usual morning routine which consisted of getting dressed, washing my face, brushing me teeth, combing my hair, and making sure I had everything ready for school, ate some cereal, grabbed the bag of Rosalie's clothes and was out the door. I hoped the dry cleaner's would be open this early; I had a feeling Rosalie wasn't a patient soul and I didn't want to get on her bad side. I'd seen the nails on that girl.

Lucky for me, the dry cleaner's was already open when I pulled into the parking lot. I got out of my truck and went inside, handing off the bag of designer clothes. "They should be ready tomorrow afternoon," the lady told me.

I nodded and went back to my truck. It wasn't raining yet, but I could tell it would only be a matter of time before the downpour began.

As I pulled my truck into the school parking lot, I noticed Alice leaning against a silver Volvo. I pulled into the spot next to it and couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed by the obvious difference between our vehicles. "Good morning, Bella." Alice chirped at me.

"Good morning." I replied as I grabbed my backpack and locked my truck; not that anyone would actually try to steal it.

Alice sighed as I walked towards her, shaking her head. "We're going shopping this weekend."

"Why?"

"You need a new wardrobe."

I looked down at my old jeans and dark blue hoodie. They certainly weren't anything near to what I borrowed from Rosalie yesterday but they didn't look that bad, "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Oh Bella, Bella, Bella…" Alice shook her head, "I have so much to teach you."

She skipped over to me and linked her arm with mine, "By the end of the year you'll be a fashion guru."

"I can hardly wait." I said sarcastically.

The rest of the morning went by fairly quickly. Mike took a seat beside me in calculus and spent the entire class passing me notes. I answered a few of them but after he began asking more personal questions, like what I was doing this weekend, I eventually stopped responding. Jasper found it hilarious.

At break, Mike pulled me away and over to where my locker was. I guessed this is where he and his friends hang out. Jessica and the blonde haired girl I had met yesterday were already there waiting along with another guy I hadn't met yet.

"Hey there," the new guy greeted as I opened my locker. He leaned casually against the locker beside me and gave a charming smile, "I'm Tyler."

The blonde, I learned her name was Lauren, made a little 'tsk' noise and shoved Tyler forcefully away from her. He lost his balance and fell into Mike, sending them both to the floor. As they struggled to get up, Jessica and Lauren flipped their hair and stalked off.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, ignoring Jessica and Lauren.

"I'm fine," Mike ground out. He got up and grabbed Tyler by the arm, yanking him up as well. "Maybe you shouldn't sit with us at lunch today, Lauren's in one of her PMS moods."

I wanted to tell Mike that I never said I was going to sit with him in the first place, but instead I held my tongue. The bell rang and we said goodbye to Tyler and headed off to biology. I wasn't looking forward to sitting next to Edward, it was bound to be uncomfortable. I didn't know what to do or say around Edward. I supposed I should just act like normal, but it felt awkward because although I knew what he was going through, I still had to pretend I didn't.

Edward was staring out the window when we got to class. I swallowed thickly and I slowly walked to the table, setting my binder on top as Mike left to go take his seat at another table. "Good morning," I said softly.

He turned to look at me, "Morning," he replied and then resumed looked back outside.

I bit my lip and looked down at my binder. I wanted to say something so badly. Someone so beautiful shouldn't be hurting this much. The second bell rang as Mr. Banner came into the classroom, handing out little packages of paper. "These," he began, handing two to me and Edward, "are the instructions for your first project of the year. You and your lab partner will be working on them together."

I looked at the paper. There was a brief introduction about the project then four bullets headed 'Research paper', 'Model', 'Experiment', and 'Presentation' and then a set of requirements for each one.

"Don't worry, you don't have to do all four of them." Mr. Banner reassured the class as he grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing on the board. "You and your partner will choose a type of cell to research and then pick two things from the list and complete them."

"What type of cell?" Mike asked.

Mr. Banner smiled, "It's up to you. Any type of cell will be fine, as long as you can get enough information on it. You have the rest of the week to work on this in class, but then you are on your own. It is due in one month, and that doesn't mean you can slack off until a week before it's due, Mr. Newton." Some of the students laughed as Mike went bright red, "I'm giving you a month to complete it because I expect it to be of college quality."

A collective groan went up from the students and complaints filled the room. Mr. Banner held up his hand, "You're all in grade twelve and I'm doing you a favor by preparing you for what's to come in college. So, you should be using the rest of this period to decide with your partner what you are going to do."

He finished his speech and let us get to work, walking back to his desk. I looked at Edward, who was staring at the sheet. "So what do you want to do this on?" I asked.

He looked up and shrugged, "I really have no idea," he said, "Banner didn't really give us much to work with."

I sighed, leaning back on my chair. "I say we do it on something well-known, that way we'll get a lot of information."

Edward shrugged again, "Cancer cell?"

"That would work…" I said, "And there are different types of cancer too."

"We could do a presentation of the different cancers out there." Edward suggested. I grinned, I could see Edward was getting into the assignment; he actually had a small smile on his face.

"Yeah that would work!" I agreed, "And, since research papers suck we could…do a model?"

"Sure."

I sat back and mock stretched, "All right. We've done enough work for today, don't you think?" Edward gave a small smile and closed his binder. "You're really getting into this."

"I want to be a doctor." Edward explained, "And since my dad is a doctor too, we'll have lots of books we can get information from."

"Hey, Mr. Banner, are we going down to the library?" One of the guys, I think his name was Ben, shouted from the back of the class.

"We'll be going to the library tomorrow." Mr. Banner replied from his desk.

I grinned, "Looks like we really are done for the day."

"Seems that way," Edward said. He rested his arms on his binder and looked at me. "So you and Alice are becoming pretty close friends."

"I guess." I shrugged. "As close as we can be for knowing each other for two days."

"She sings your praises." Edward chuckled. A chill went through my body at the sound.

"That's…creepy." I laughed.

Edward laughed with me, "She can be a little overwhelming at times. Sometimes I swear she can see into the future. She'll know if someone is a good person or not or when something will –" He cut off abruptly and went silent.

I bit my lip. It didn't take a genius to know Alice probably said something to him about Tanya, but of course I wasn't supposed to know that. God, I sounded like a stalker.

After that, Edward didn't say much. All he really did was just stare at his binder for the rest of class. I wanted to ask if he was okay but I wasn't sure if it would set him off or not. Now that I understood why he had been so angered by my previous inquiry into his tired expression, I was reluctant to reopen that can of worms. The bell rang and we left the classroom. Edward didn't dart out of class this time, so that was a plus.

"Do you think Rosalie wants her clothes back today?" I couldn't stand the silence between us and blurted the first thing that came to mind.

Edward looked confused for a moment, "Clothes?"

"The clothes I was wearing yesterday, they were Rose's." I explained, "I got drenched when I got to school and Alice got her to lend me her change of clothes." I was beginning to ramble, great.

"As long as she gets the clothes back, Rose shouldn't mind." Edward said softly. We entered the cafeteria together and walked over to the table Alice and the others were sitting. Alice gave me a strange look as we sat down.

"How was being kidnapped by Mike?" Jasper asked, grinning at me.

I glared at him, "You could have helped me, you know." I said.

"I would've but Mike looked like he really wanted to be with you." Jasper snickered.

Alice smacked him over his head, "And what about what Bella wanted?" She asked, "Bella, do you want to go out with Mike?"

"Huh?" Where did that come from? "No."

"Tell him she isn't interested." Alice said to the guys. I stared at them confused. They didn't hang out with Mike, did they?

"Why do we have to?" Emmett asked.

"Because I said so," Alice glared at him, "You know how Mike is. He won't get the hint unless he's told directly."

"Not it!" Edward and Jasper said at the same time.

Emmett blinked and looked at the two of them, "Oh, no fair, guys!" He groaned, "Babe, help me."

Rosalie shrugged, patting one dainty hand on his cheek, "Sorry, you lost."

Emmett groaned, and crossed his arms. He looked so much like a little child I couldn't help but start laughing. "Don't look so put out, Em." Jasper laughed.

"I'm going to get some food." I announced, still laughing.

"Me too," Alice said, getting up. We walked over to the food and grabbed trays. "So Edward seems to be in a better mood today."

"Yeah," I said. I wondered if I should tell Alice I knew about the accident. She seemed trustworthy, plus she was Edward's cousin so she had to know what all he was going through. "He was in a better mood in biology, though," I hesitated nervously, "I seem to bring up the wrong things when we're talking."

Alice scrunched her face up, "Like I said, don't worry about it."

"Hey Alice…um…" I bit my lip, playing with my tray. I decided to go for it. "My dad ended up telling me what happened…"

Alice stared at me. She was quiet for a long time and I began to worry I'd said the wrong thing. I should have just kept my mouth shut and waited for them to tell me what happened. "I figured you would find out," she finally said. She didn't seem angry, which surprised me. "Your dad is the one trying to find out who is responsible for what happened to Tanya, after all."

"It just kind of came up last night after we had some company." I said. We paid for our food and began walking back to the table. "I don't know how to act around him." I whispered. We had slowed our pace to keep talking.

"Whatever you were doing in biology seemed to work." Alice said, "Edward hates being in school because it reminds him too much of Tanya, that's why he's always in a bad mood. I've never seen him openly smile here."

We reached the table before I could say anything more. I wanted to know if I was allowed to let Edward know I knew or if I should wait for him to come to me. I decided to wait until last period. I had English with Alice in sixth period and so far it had just been a bunch of group discussions so I would be able to talk to her then.

"So I was thinking this weekend we could go down to Port Angeles," Alice said to me, stealing one of my fries.

"What for?"

"So we can go shopping, of course!" Alice squealed.

I groaned, remembering our little conversation from this morning, "Alice, I'm not much of a shopping person."

"I can tell," she replied dryly, "but you'll have me with you, so it'll be much easier to pick out clothes."

"Have fun Bella." Jasper grinned.

"I'm not going to get out of this, am I?" I asked, looking around the table at everyone. Emmett cackled and shook his head. I groaned and looked at Alice, "Fine. _But,_" I interrupted as Alice began to clap excitedly, "we get to go to a bookstore as well. That's my one condition."

"Deal!" Alice agreed readily.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into Bella." Emmett grinned.

"I'm not that bad, am I?" Alice looked around the table.

"Yes. Yes you are." Edward teased.

Alice 'hmph'd' and crossed her arms, "Fine, next time you guys have a date and have nothing to wear, don't come running to me."

"We don't come running to you," Emmett said, "You come running to us."

Alice made an angry noise and chucked a piece of lettuce at him as everyone laughed, "What is this, 'pick-on Alice' day?" She growled.

"You know we love you, Alice." Jasper said, wrapping an arm around her and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"You sure know how to show it." Alice sniffed.

The rest of the lunch hour went by too fast for my liking. We joked around with each other and even Edward got in on making fun of Emmett when Rosalie caught him staring at a junior's legs as she walked by.

When the bell rang Alice and I returned everyone's tray to the tray holder. "We'll continue our talk about him in English, okay?" She asked.

"Okay, see you then." Alice nodded and skipped off with Jasper and Rosalie to their class while I headed to my least favorite class, gym. That was like my own personal hell right there.

Luckily, it was free gym today so Angela and I spent the hour hitting a birdie back and forth while getting to know each other. The class went by with only one incident; me hitting Mike in the head with the racket when he ran past.

Finally it was English. I was quite anxious for this class; there was so much I wanted to know. I met up with Alice on her way to the main building, "I hate physics." Alice groaned, yawning loudly. "That class puts me to sleep."

Once we reached the classroom we found out we had a substitute teacher which basically meant a free period. Grinning, Alice led me to a couch we claimed as ours and we sat down. "First thing's first," Alice said quietly after attendance was taken. The whole class had erupted into loud talking so there was little chance of anyone overhearing us, "how much do you know about what happened?"

I exhaled, "All I know is that Tanya was run off the road and Edward thinks it's someone from the Q.O.D. who did it."

Alice nodded, "Okay, so just the basics." She sighed and bit her lip, "This is still a touchy subject for Edward, so no talking about it around him, okay?"

"I won't." I promised. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. We just met, after all."

"It's okay, like I said yesterday I can tell we're going to be best friends. You won't tell anyone about this."

"Thanks, Alice." I was secretly pleased that she felt so highly of me already. Maybe Edward was right, maybe Alice could see into the future. "Alright, the stage is yours."

"Tanya…" she began, "she was awesome. She had everything going for her, beauty, brains, popularity, and she was so kind. She was a junior when we entered high school and from day one Edward had the biggest crush on her," Alice paused and chuckled, probably thinking of something that had happened between them, "so when he was invited to one of her parties he was over the moon. Long story short, they hooked up at the party.

"They were dating for almost two years before the accident. They were the cutest couple, and I think Edward thought she was the one. Anyone could see how much they loved each other. But…umm…Tanya had an ex who wasn't exactly thrilled about her dating Edward."

"And he's in the Q.O.D?" I asked.

Alice nodded, "Yes. Edward seems to think Aro was the one who ran Tanya off the road because he was jealous. They had actually gotten into a couple of fights before over Tanya."

"But there's no proof?" I asked.

"None," Alice shook her head. "If that was just what had happened, I'm sure Edward would be fine by now. He'd go through little depression stages, but he'd be a lot happier than he is now."

"My dad told me Edward's dad is the doctor looking after her," I said quietly.

Alice nodded, "Yes. Uncle Carlisle tried everything in his power to help Tanya. But the damage to her brain was just too –" She stopped and shook her head.

"It must be so hard for you guys." I whispered, "And having a relative be the one looking after her…"

"It's not that," Alice said, tears in her eyes. "Uncle Carlisle never talks about Tanya's condition unless Edward asks. Its Tanya's fucking parents who keep reopening the wound. They refuse to accept the fact that Tanya won't wake up, and they take it out on Uncle Carlisle and Edward!"

"What?"

"Mrs. Denali always calls the house and pressures Uncle Carlisle to see if he's found anything to help Tanya. Every night! Not only does it not help Edward grieve but it also puts a strain on Uncle Carlisle. He feels it's his responsibility to find something, or he thinks there is something he missed."

"Can't he put a restraining order on her or something?" I asked.

Alice shook her head, "He's too kind. He feels it isn't right to do something like that to a mother just wanting her daughter back."

I whistled lowly, "I'm so sorry, Alice." I swallowed, "I wish there was something I could do."

"Yeah…" Alice exhaled. "I don't think there's anything that can be done. Until the Denali's accept the fact that Tanya won't be able to survive off life support, Edward will keep reliving the accident." She paused and grabbed a tissue from her purse, dabbing her eyes, "And you know what makes all of this even worse?"

"No, what?" I was surprised at Alice's bitter tone.

"Tanya was on her way over to Edward's house when she was hit. They were going to go hiking in the woods by our house."

"Oh no," I groaned. "Let me guess, Edward blames himself too."

Alice nodded. "Today at lunch was the first time in a long time I've seen him look as if he was enjoying himself at school. I don't know what you did, but keep doing it."

"I didn't do anything, really." I said, frowning. "We have a huge project coming up in biology and we were talking about what subject we were going to chose, he told me he wanted to be a doctor, and then we talked about you."

"Me?"

"He said something about how you sing my praises." I grinned.

"That jerk!" Alice exclaimed. "This _is_ 'pick-on Alice' day, I swear!"

I began laughing as Alice grumbled to herself, "Just wait Bella, someday soon it'll be 'pick-on Bella' day and we'll see who is laughing then."

"Sure, sure," I grinned. "Hey, I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"You said my dad always catches Edward and his friends at parties, but from what I'm seeing Edward isn't really the type to go out drinking." I bit my lip and waited for her answer.

Alice's smile dropped from her face. Not a good sign. "Edward…well, he's become a bit of an alcoholic," she said and my eyes widened. "Don't you dare repeat that to _anyone_!" She threatened me. I jumped at the malice in her voice.

"I won't." I promised.

"Thank you." She relaxed into the couch, "Uncle Carlisle and Aunt Esme don't know, and I want to keep it that way," Alice said, biting her top lip, "unless it starts getting out of hand. But he isn't like that."

I could hear the unspoken '_yet_' lingering in the air. It was time for a subject change, "So do you live with Edward and his parents?"

"Yeah, I've lived with them for almost ten years now." Alice said. "I used to live in California with my parents, but some custody issues came up and…yeah, they sent me to live with my mom's sister."

"I'm sorry." I felt bad for bringing this up. Was all of Alice's past so sad?

Alice shrugged, "I'm glad I live with them. If I continued to live with my parents in California, I'd probably be a lot worse off than I am now."

The conversation kind of died off then. I gnawed on my bottom lip, not too sure of what to say next. Alice was playing with her cell phone, flipping it open and shut. "This weekend," she began, "when we go to Port Angeles, what time do you want to leave?"

I shrugged. "I don't really care. I don't have much of a social life."

"Oh, you will," Alice grinned, "just wait, in a month's time you'll be begging for a weekend of just doing nothing."

I laughed, "I'm not so sure about that."

"You'll see." Alice grinned cheekily at me. "Okay, so how about I pick you up Saturday morning? We'll drive down to Port Angeles, go to your bookstore, grab something to eat and then shop the day away!"

"That sounds fine, I guess." I sighed. It would be fun hanging out with Alice and getting to know her better, but the fact that I was going _shopping_ was less than appealing. "Do you know where I live?"

"Yeah, everyone knows where Chief Swan lives." Alice grinned, "Though that really isn't a good thing."

***

Dad phoned when I got home from school to tell me he would be late for dinner and I should just eat without him. I heated up the previous nights' leftovers and was just doing the dishes when the phone rang. Wiping my hands on the dish towel, I managed to get the phone on the fourth ring, "Hello?"

"Hey, Bella," a low, raspy voice was on the other line, "It's Jacob."

"Oh, hey Jake," I grinned and went back to the sink, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, you?"

"About the same."

"What exciting lives we lead," he laughed. "I was wondering if you were busy this Saturday."

"I am, actually." I said, making a face.

"Oh…"

"Why?"

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go catch a movie or something down in Port Angeles," Jacob said, "Not like a date or anything, just friends." He added quickly.

I smirked at the irony. "Sorry Jake, but I'm actually going shopping with a friend on Saturday. We can go catch a movie some other time if you want." I suggested, putting away the plates.

"I'm free on Thursday." Jacob said, sounding excited.

"Thursday works for me."

"That's great. I'll pick you up around five and we'll decide what movie to see then."

"Sounds like a plan." I grinned. "I'll see you Thursday."

"Bye, Bells."

We hung up and I finished the dishes. I was truly excited to go with Jacob, though I hoped he didn't think of this as a date. He said he didn't, but I wasn't too sure. Oh well, at least I was getting out of the house!


	3. Confrontations and Paranoia

**Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry for the wait, I kinda went through a dry spell with writing and then ended up getting my laptop taken away by my douche of a dad. -grumble- Anyway, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, put this story on alert, and who just read it. It makes me happy when people read my story. **

**Now I have to warn you guys, I won't be updating much until the summer. Finals are coming up, I need to finish homework and such, plus I noticed a pretty big flaw in the plot for the next couple of chapters that I need to fix. So just stay put; I haven't abandoned the story I'm just working on multiple things. **

**A big thank you to the ladies from Team Project Beta for not killing me, and AmberStar63 for going over this chapter. MUCH LOVE!**

**I sadly do not own any of the characters from Twilight, just the plot.**

* * *

_Chapter 3: __Confrontations and Paranoia_

_Bella P.O.V._

The next day, during lunch Alice and I went to the dry cleaner's to pick up Rosalie's clothes.

Alice was not too happy that we used my truck, especially considering that Edward's shiny, quiet Volvo was available. She put up a bit of a fight, but when I threatened to leave without her she stopped complaining about it and hopped right in.

"How can you drive this thing?" Alice said, finally breaking the silence when we were on our way back to school. "It's so loud."

"Anything's loud compared to Edward's Volvo," I said, glancing over at her.

"Well yes, that's true," she said. "But this thing is so old. It probably has less than a year to live."

"Why do you keep knocking my truck?" I asked, rubbing the steering wheel affectionately. I loved my truck. Sure it was loud and it did get a little bit embarrassing when it backfired, but it had character.

"Because it's a death trap," Alice retorted, "I can picture you in a nice little red Sunfire more than I can in this huge ass thing."

I rolled my eyes and focused on finding a new parking spot, someone had scooped up the space I had parked in before we left to collect Rosalie's clothes. I saw an empty space and pulled in, "I don't exactly have the money for a Sunfire, Alice, not that I even want one."

She grabbed Rosalie's clothes and hopped out of my truck. I winced as it backfired when I put it in park and turned the ignition off. Alice was grinning at me when I got out, I could tell she really wanted to say something more about my truck.

"Not a word," I warned her.

She just laughed and began walking towards the school.

We still had about 15 minutes before lunch period ended so we took our time getting to the cafeteria. Alice skipped ahead, swinging the bag back and forth. "Hey Bella," she turned around and grinned at me, "Are you busy tomorrow after school?"

"What for?" I asked. Tomorrow was the day I was going to the movies with Jacob, but if whatever Alice wanted to do was quick, maybe I could do both.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house and stay for dinner," she said, "My Aunt Esme just got back from Seattle and is making this big meal." Alice added, bobbing her eyebrows up and down.

"Sorry Alice," I said, shaking my head. "I actually have plans."

"That sucks," Alice sighed, "I guess next time then."

"I'm sorry." I said again.

We entered the cafeteria and made our way to our usual table. Jasper and Emmett were deep in conversation, but when Jasper caught sight of us approaching over Emmett's massive shoulders he cut off whatever he was saying. The cafeteria was too loud and I wasn't able to catch any of it, but it must have been something that he didn't want us to hear.

"We're back, guys," Alice said. She placed the dry cleaner's bag in front of Rosalie then sat down beside Jasper, giving him a quick kiss. She didn't seem to have noticed the intense conversation we had walked in on, or maybe she just chose to ignore it. I sat down next to Edward who gave me a small smile. I was usually the last one to get to the table and the seat beside Edward was the only one open; so, it just became 'my spot'.

Rosalie peeked into the bag then looked at me with a smile, "Thanks," she said and put the bag on the floor by her feet.

I looked at Alice who winked at me.

"So what were you guys talking about?" I asked, wanting to know Jasper had been talking about before we arrived.

I caught Jasper and Emmett sharing a look. "Nothing much," Emmett replied. "We're talking about football."

"Football?" I glanced at Jasper who was looking at Emmett with an amused expression. They were hiding something. I turned towards Jasper and leaned forward on the table, "I didn't really picture you as the football type, Jasper."

"Yeah, I've been following the Seattle Mariners for a while now," he replied. "They have a game on this evening that I want to watch."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing as Emmett muttered a 'dude' under his breath. I wasn't into sports, but since Phil, my mom's new husband, was a minor league baseball player, I knew that the Seattle Mariners were, in fact, a baseball team; not a football team.

Deciding to play along, I grinned at him. "Who are they playing?"

I saw Jasper falter for a moment and his adam's apple bob up and down. "Some team from Jacksonville," he finally replied, "Jaguars, I think."

Rosalie snorted into her drink. I looked up to see everyone at the table looking anywhere, but at Jasper and me trying to hold back their laughter. I decided to let it go for now, it was getting a little painful to watch Jasper squirm. "Alright then."

We ended the conversation just as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. "See you in English, Alice," I told her as I got up.

As I made my way out of the cafeteria I heard Emmett cry out, "Dude! The Seattle Mariners are a baseball team, idiot!"

Frowning, I continued on to class. It was obvious that Jasper was trying to hide something from me, and the fact that he went out of his way to try and cover up what the conversation was about with _sports_ made me especially curious.

The rest of the day dragged by far too slow for my liking. In gym we were beginning volleyball. I was by no means an athlete, but volleyball was like my all-time nemesis. Trying to hit a ball that's speeding towards your face was _not_ my idea of fun. Even when I was able to hit the volleyball, it would always go in the wrong direction.

My classmates learned from day one that I wasn't meant for gym; they knew not to pass to me unless they absolutely had to. I did get hurt this period though. Lauren spiked the ball and managed to hit me right in the nose. I was sent to the nurse's office with a bloody nose, but it got me out of participating for the rest of class.

"Oh my god!" Alice screeched when she saw me in English, "What happened to your nose?"

"We were playing volleyball in gym," I said, trying not to move my mouth too much. My nose hurt like hell and I knew there was going to be a nasty bruise tomorrow morning. "Lauren spiked a ball into my nose."

"That bitch," Alice hissed.

"It was an accident, Alice." I said, sitting down on our couch. I opened my binder and grabbed the assignment that was due today, reaching over Alice to place it in the hand-in bin.

Alice and I didn't have much time to talk during our English class. We were starting a new novel today, the _Shawshank Redemption_. Our teacher took over half the class explaining the importance of the book and why it was a part of the grade twelve curriculum. We spent the rest of the class reading the first chapter and answering questions in our study guide.

The bell rang and I began to pack up, happy to go home. I looked over at Alice who was deep in thought. "So," I nudged her, making her jump, "your boyfriend's a football fan, huh?"

Alice burst out laughing, making the stragglers look over at us. "Don't ask, Bella. Just, don't ask."

***

I was in the bathroom examining the damage Lauren had done with the volleyball when Dad came home from work; my nose was swollen and had turned a deep purple. I touched it gingerly, wincing as a sharp pain shot up through my nose.

"Hey Bells, I'm home," he called. "Bells?"

"Yeah Dad, I'll be right down," I called back, looking at my nose once more.

I breezed down the stairs and into the kitchen, hoping that if I just got busy starting dinner he might not notice. He was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper.

My mom was used to seeing the 'aftermath' of my accident riddled days, so she was used to me coming home all bruised up. Dad, on the other hand, didn't really get just how accident prone I was. He was going to freak out over it, but he would just have to get used to the fact that I hurt myself. A lot.

"Hey Dad, stir fry for dinner okay?"

"Sure Bells, sounds good."

This is going better than I thought; he didn't even look up from his paper.

"So dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes then. Why don't you take the paper to the living room and relax? I'll call you when it's ready."

His eyes grew large as he took in my bruised nose. I groaned and hung my head down, making my hair fall into my face. "It's okay Dad, it looks worse than it really is."

"You look like you were hit!" he said, trying to look at my nose.

"Only by a volleyball. It's no big deal, I'm fine." I could see he was ready to say more, I held up my hand. "Dad, stuff like this happens to me all the time, get used to it. You can't go all Police Chief on me every time I come home with cuts, bruises or broken bones. I'll let you know when it's something serious, okay?"

He just looked at me, opening and closing his mouth a few times. I bit my lip; maybe what I said was a bit too harsh.

"Okay, Bells. I get it. Just be careful, alright?" He relented. He took his paper and went to the living room.

I smiled at him, happy that he was leaving it alone, and started getting dinner ready

I had just called him for dinner and was filling his plate when I remembered I didn't tell him I was going out with Jacob tomorrow night. "Dad… it's alright if I go to Port Angeles tomorrow with Jake, right?"

"I don't see a problem with it," he replied, walking into the kitchen as I placed his dinner on the table. "What are you two doing down there?"

"We're going to see a movie," I replied. "He wanted to go on Saturday but I'm already busy with Alice that day, she's asked me to spend the day shopping with her in Port Angeles."

"Do you need any money?" he asked.

"I think I'm good," I said hesitantly. My cash supply was beginning to run a little low, I didn't actually come to Forks with much money in the first place but I still had a bit left. _Maybe I should get a job_, I thought as I filled my own plate and sat down at the table.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I might start looking for a job."

Dad set down his fork and leaned back in the chair. "I think Newton's Olympic Outfitters is hiring."

"Newton's Olympic Outfitters?"

"Yeah, Mike Newton's family owns it. It's like _the_ sporting goods store in town," Dad shrugged. "It's not really you, but you can't be picky when it comes to jobs in Forks."

"No, any job would be fine," I told him.

"I'll stop by the store tomorrow and ask Karen if they're hiring," he said, picking up his fork again.

"I'll talk to Mike tomorrow too," I said. "Thanks Dad."

I finished eating as Dad got up to get seconds. I still had some homework to finish up so I excused myself and headed to my room.

***

The next day I saw Mike in the hall during break. I told Jasper that I'd meet up with him and everyone else in the cafeteria at lunch and went over to Mike. Jessica and Lauren were with him and they both glared at me when I joined them. I felt Lauren staring at my nose, the bruise had gotten darker overnight, and from the smug smile she had on her face I got the feeling that she was happy she managed to hit me with the volleyball.

"Hey, Mike," I said, trying to ignore Jessica and Lauren. "Your family owns Newton's Olympic Outfitters, right?"

"Yeah," he said, a smile spreading across his face. Jessica made a disgusted sound and rolled her eyes, "We do. Why?"

"I heard you were hiring," I smiled at him.

"Yes, we are," his smile widening as he straightened up.

"Do you think you could put in a good word for me?" I asked. The looks I was getting from Jessica and Lauren were making me feel uncomfortable. What was their problem anyway? "I'm getting a little tight on cash."

"Yeah, I can do that!"

"Thank you," I said. Not having anything else to say, I felt a little awkward just standing there so I decided to escape. "I'm going to head to biology, see you in class."

"See you in a bit, Bella!" he called after me as I walked away.

I was surprised to see Edward already sitting in the classroom when I got there. His binder was open and he was copying something from a book.

"Hey," I said as I walked up to our table, placing my binder on the countertop, "What are you doing?"

Edward looked up briefly then made to return to his copying, but did a quick double take. "What the hell happened to your nose?" he asked.

"Volleyball incident," I said, rolling my eyes.

He shook his head at me and then continued to write.

"So what are you writing?"

"Writing down some stuff about cancer," he tapped the book with his pen. "I got this from my dad. It has lots of useful information."

"Really?" I dropped my backpack to the floor and sat down. As I leaned in to get a closer look I was suddenly engulfed by a delicious scent. All coherent thought disappeared as I closed my eyes and let the musky smell invade my senses. It took me only a moment to realise it was coming from Edward. I never noticed how _good_ Edward smelled before.

I opened my eyes to see Edward looking at me expectantly. _Oops_, he must have said something to me. "What?" I blinked a couple times and moved away from him. "Sorry I kind of zoned out."

"I noticed," he gave me a quick grin. "I just asked if you wanted to borrow this book."

"Oh, um…yeah, I'd like that. Thanks," I said as he pushed the book towards me. I left it open on the table, we still had today and tomorrow to work on our projects and this book would probably be really useful. "So your mom's cooking a big meal tonight, huh?"

"How'd you know that?" Edward asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Alice," I said, "She invited me over for dinner."

"Oh, so you'll be coming tonight then?"

I shook my head. "I can't. I actually have plans tonight," I told him.

The bell rang and students began to trickle into the classroom. Mike grinned at me as he walked by. I actually found it quite amusing that Mike could get so happy by me asking him to put in a good word for me. I grinned back at him.

"What's the smile for?" Edward asked, looking between me and Mike.

"Nothing," I said as I turned back around.

Edward and I spent our class time gathering information on the different cancers, the book he lent me proved very useful. Each chapter was dedicated to a different type of cancer and listed everything from symptoms to treatments.

When the bell rang, Edward hung around to wait for me. It took all the restraint I had to not squeal when I saw this. Usually after the bell rang Edward would get up and head to the cafeteria by himself. I hoped that him waiting for me was a small sign that we were becoming friends. I smiled at him as we walked out of the classroom together.

"I'll meet up with you in the cafeteria," I told him. "I have to go to my locker."

"Okay," he said. "See you in a few."

I began to walk off towards my locker, looking back over my shoulder to see Edward enter the cafeteria. I smiled to myself, the progress Edward and I had made (both project and friendship) had put me in such a good mood that I practically bounced down the hall.

I had made my own lunch today, wanting to save some money for the movie tonight. As I turned down the hallway where my locker was, I saw a girl with short, almost silvery blonde hair leaning against my locker. She had an apple in her hand and was casually tossing it in the air while she stared at the wall across from her. It looked like she was waiting for someone.

"Excuse me," I said to her, she was standing in front of my locker.

She looked at me and I was surprised to see an angry glint in her brown eyes. "Isabella Swan?" she asked.

"Um…yes," I said hesitantly.

The girl stopped tossing the apple and pushed off from my locker but stayed in front of it, still blocking my way. _Who is she and how did she know where my locker was?_ I thought,_ Or for that __matter, how did she even know I was going to be here at lunch?_

"I'm Irina," she said coolly.

"Okay…" I said, eyeing her.

"Irina Denali," she said as if I should know who she was. The last name did sound familiar to me. _Denali… Denali… oh!_ "Tanya's sister."

"Oh! Call me 'Bella'," I told her, trying to give her a smile. I had a feeling it failed horribly. "I'm sorry about what happened to –"

"Cut the shit, bitch." She took a step towards me, clenching the apple tighter.

I stepped back at the tone of her voice, surprised at the malice in it. "I'm – I'm sorry?"

"You heard me," she said, taking another step towards me. I took another step back. "You need to stay the fuck away from Edward. You got that?"

"What?" This girl was unbelievable. Her brown eyes were wild as she stared at me and I felt almost afraid.

"Tanya is Edward's girlfriend, so back off."

"What are you –?"

"Don't play dumb with me, bitch," she hissed. "Tanya _will_ wake up and she doesn't need to deal with sluts like you throwing themselves all over Edward."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying not to let her see how much she intimidated me. "Edward and I are just friends."

Irina laughed bitterly. "Do you fucking think I believe that?" she pointed a finger at me. "I _saw_ you in Mr. Banner's class trying to get close to him. Get it through your ugly ass head that he isn't interested, so don't even try."

With that, Irina threw the apple at my feet, turned on her heel and stalked off down the hall. I stared after her, my mouth hanging open. I was speechless. I went to my locker, trying to work my combination lock. My hands were shaking; I had never had anyone talk like that to me before. After a couple of tries, I got my locker open and grabbed my bagged lunch.

I walked to the cafeteria slowly, my mind reeling with what Irina had said. She seemed wild and dangerous, and I was sure I never wanted to see her again.

_Did I really look like I was trying to pick Edward up?_ I thought to myself, biting my lip. I hadn't been consciously leaning into Edward today in Mr. Banner's class. He just smelled so good and I got caught up in his scent. I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

Like yesterday, everyone was deep in a discussion when I reached the table. It took Alice a moment to realize I was there. "Bella!" she jumped up from her seat and everyone abruptly stopped talking. This made me feel paranoid. What if Edward had told everyone about my actions in biology and they were making fun of me?

I put my stuff by my seat beside Edward as Alice linked arms with me. "Hey Bella, do you think we could go to your locker? I think I left my copy of _Shawshank Redemption_ there."

I stared at Alice, confused. She never once went to my locker with her copy of the book. Alice gave me a look that said 'follow along' and I nodded. "Sure," I said.

"We'll be back," Alice called over her shoulder as we walked out of the cafeteria and back towards my locker.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder.

"Em and Rose are having some…issues," she said as we made our way into the hallway where I had been not even five minutes ago. "I just thought it'd be better for you to not to hear it."

"But Edward and Jasper are still at the table," I stated. We stopped at my locker and I turned to look at her.

"Yeah, but they're used to it," she shrugged as she picked up the apple that Irina had thrown at me and tossed it into a nearby trash can. "Em and Rose have a fight at least once a week. I figured it'd be best if we gave you a week or two before you actually had to witness one. Those fights aren't pretty."

"I see," I said. It seemed like a valid excuse to leave the table, but it still didn't explain why everyone had stopped talking when I walked up. I sighed and rubbed my forehead; maybe I was just being paranoid and imagined it. _No, something is going on around here, I'm sure of it_.

We sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. I stared at my feet, fidgeting as Irina's words ran through my head once more.

"Bella, are you okay?" Alice asked, placing her small hand on my arm.

"I don't know," I replied after a moment.

"What's wrong?" she asked, scooting across the floor so she was sitting in front of me, a concerned look on her face.

"After biology I told Edward I'd meet him in the cafeteria because I had to get my lunch from my locker," I began, wetting my lips with my tongue, "when I turned the corner into this hallway I saw a girl waiting by my locker. She said her name was Irina."

Alice groaned loudly and fell back on the floor, "What did she say?" she asked reluctantly.

"She told me to stay away from Edward and that Tanya was going to wake up and didn't need sluts like me going after him," I looked at Alice, biting my lip.

"Bella," Alice complained, making a face, "please don't listen to Irina. She isn't exactly all there, if you know what I mean."

"You mean she's mentally ill?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I wouldn't be surprised if she was though," Alice admitted, sitting up and looking at me. "Even before Tanya's accident, Irina was always over-protective of her sister. She got pissed off at any girl who would go near Edward. She always accused the girls of being sluts and whore and all kinds of things, it was almost like an obsession. Anyway, after the accident, she got worse. Tanya's whole family went a little loopy after it happened, actually."

"Oh," I bit my lip and looked down the empty hall. "That's really sad."

"I know," Alice agreed. She stood up, wiped off her butt, and then helped me up from the floor. "Unfortunately there isn't anything we can do. Come on, I think Em and Rose should be done with their argument by now."

"What should I do if Irina approaches me again?" I asked as we began to walk back to the cafeteria.

"Just ignore what she says," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "She's all talk anyway."

Emmett and Rosalie were snuggled up together when we entered the cafeteria. Alice grinned and nudged me with her elbow."See? What did I tell you?"

I grinned and sat down finally starting my lunch. I was trying to ignore everything Irina said to me and my paranoia that something was going on behind my back and just enjoy spending time with my friends. It wasn't until the end of gym that I realized we had been gone about ten minutes and no one seemed to care that Alice came back without her book.

***

As soon as I got home I collapsed on the couch, throwing my backpack on the floor beside the coffee table. Today had been a mentally exhausting day. Irina's verbal lashing had taken a lot out of me and to top it off, when I was heading to my truck after school I caught a glimpse of her from across the parking lot. When our eyes met, she gave me a hard look and flipped me the finger before getting into her car.

Dad knew I was going to eat at the movie theater so he told me not to worry about making him dinner. That meant I had some free time. I grinned and stretched out on the couch, I had never really noticed how comfy it was. The soft _tick, tick_ from the clock that hung on the wall above the television and the buzz from the refrigerator lulled me into semi-consciousness state, and before I knew it my eyes began to droop.

"Bells… Bella,"

I groaned as Dad shook me awake. Blinking my eyes open, I saw him leaning over me. "What time is it?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. _Ick_, I had that awful post-nap taste in my mouth. I definitely needed to brush my teeth.

"It's quarter-to-five," Dad said. "Jake just called and said he'd be here in ten minutes."

"Oh," I stretched and ran a hand through my hair. Dad went off to the kitchen and I got up, grabbing my backpack as I hurried upstairs. I put my backpack on my bed and grabbed my brush from my dresser, quickly running it through my hair. When I was satisfied, I hurried to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I made sure to scrub my tongue extra hard to get that horrible taste out of my mouth. I loved having naps, but the aftertaste was something that I could live without.

Before I knew it, I heard a car horn honking outside and Dad hollered up the stairs to me that Jacob was here. I grabbed my jacket and my purse and headed downstairs. I was genuinely excited for the movie. Today had been a crappy day and I needed to have a little fun with a friend.

* * *

**There you go! What's going to happen with Bella and Jake? Will he be putting the moves on her? **

**Don't forget to review, they make me happy. :D**


End file.
